The Border Collie Slayer

A thousand years ago, a Border Collie risked everything to save the life of a Slayer, left lost and dying in the mountains of England's Lake District. The Powers That Be were so impressed at the loyalty of the Slayer's best friend, they gave unto One Border Collie in all the world the power to fight by the Slayer's side. Now, she would not be alone - together, they would fight the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness. The Border Collie Slayer may be of either gender. She might even be another breed, but tough, fast, smart working dogs like the collie are the preferred mould.

Chargen:

Border Collie Slayers must first create a Border Collie character. This is done just as for creating a human character, except with three fewer attribute points (applied to either Hero or White Hat template). Border Collies can not have a Intelligence above 2, a Str above 3 or a Constitution above 5. They also begin with a Perception of 5 (no cost, this is the dog equivalent of Per 0). Border Collies also automatically receive Acute Smell at no cost.

Collies have about half the life points of humans: use the formula (Con+Str)*2+10, instead of *4.

Border Collies get the same amount of skill points despite a smaller skill list, because they're easier to train than humans. The Border Collies have the following skill list:

• Acrobatics
• Benji
• Harness
• Influence
• Lassie Talk
• Navigation
• Notice
• Round Up
• Tooth and Claw
• Tracking
• Survival
• Wild Card

New Skills:

Acrobatics and Notice work the same, but do remember to adjust them to a dog's capabilities. Dogs are effectively colour blind, for example (see Qualities) but they can hear and smell far beyond human ranges (up to a mile away, if the wind is right).

Benji: This is the skill of doing crazy human stuff that dogs were not meant to do, such as opening locks, dialing a telephones with a pencil in your mouth or hacking into the Pentagon.

Harness: The dog's training in wearing a harness to either carry or pull a load. This combines both precision (for dogs pulling carts of milk or mail etc) as well as speed training (for sled dogs). GMs should come up with a formula based on Strength and Constitution for how much a dog can carry, and how far.

Lassie Talk: How to say "Timmy's stuck down the well" without proper vocal chords or a human tongue. Border Collies must roll on this every time they are trying to relate a complex message to humans. A complex message is anything beyond "I'm scared", "I'm hungry", "This way, quick!" or "I would like to go out... but I can wait a bit longer if need be".

Navigation: When a dog finds its way across the entire country back to its owner, this is the skill they're using. Note that it doesn't help them at all when travelling by vehicle.

Round Up: The art of controlling and dominating some of the stupidest and orneriest animals on earth, with precision and speed. Works on non-herd animals too (such as scared vampires, or unruly teenagers). Roll Round Up, and multiply success levels by six: this is the size of flock the dog can handle, but divide by two for humans or other non-herd animals.

Tooth and Claw: The canine equivalent of kung fu. Damage and manoeuvre is as per a human punch (for a claw) or kick (for a bite), but it counts as stabbing/slashing damage.

Tracking: Dogs can smell to the molecular level, and can detect scents that are months old. There's no need to roll this skill to follow a bleeding vampire across freshly fallen snow. Use it for following the tracks of a ghost, through a blizzard, with a day's head start.

Survival: When making that cross-country journey mentioned above, this skill keeps a collie alive when no humans fills her food dish, and reminds her not to eat the porcupines.

Slayo the Slayer Dog:

Canines receive only half as many points to spend on Qualities (10 for Heroes, 5 for White Hats(Collars?)) and may only take five points of Drawbacks - dogs just don't have that many hang-ups. The following from the corebook are possible choices: Adversary, Attractiveness, Clown, Dependent (puppies!), Emotional Problems, Fast Reaction Time, Good/Bad Luck, Hard to Kill, Misfit, Nerves of Steel, Obligation, Physical Disability, Reckless, Resistance and of course, Slayer. Other Qualities would be possible and easy to create. Dogs should also take a level 1 Drawback of Poor Vision (Colour Blind), at no cost (and not counting towards the limit of Drawbacks). GMs may also require the Misfit Drawback to be taken (with the same conditions), to reflect the dog's low status in the human world.

Slayer Border Collies is a fifteen point quality, providing:

• +3 to Strength
• +3 to Dexterity
• +3 to Constitution
• +2 to Willpower
  (these bonuses allow collies to go above their starting limits)
• +2 to Tooth and Claw Fast Reaction Time Nerves of SteelFour Levels of Hard to Kill
• The Slayer Healing rate

All dogs can sense the supernatural on some level. Slayer collies have a guaranteed supernatural detector, which picks up anything or anybody within fifty feet. Slayer collies can also sense the invisible and insubstantial in the same range.

Slayer Border Collies must also take a level 2 Adversary and Obligation (Total). Unlike the human Slayer, not everyone wants their blood, because most demons and vampires don't even know the Border Collie Slayer exists. Unlucky for them. Border Collie Slayers, just like human Slayers, need their Scoobies, Masters and Watchers to tell them they are good dogs a lot. White Hat masters gain Drama Points for Supporting their Slayer Collie like this. Being mean to or ignoring the Border Collie Slayer might cause her to become a Bad Dog, and attack humans and vampires alike.

Most Border Collie Slayers are never found by the council, as they have only just discovered their existence, and have no idea where to look, nor what to do when they find them. Also, many Watchers don't consider it worth their while; indeed, some still believe the whole thing is a myth or a joke. However, a young Slayer feeling lonely with her fate could benefit greatly from a pup who shares her destiny and can fight alongside her, and that's the real key. A Border Collie Slayer is not very powerful, fighting humanoids in a humanoid world. A Slayer and her Slayer Dog, however, are a terrifying force to be reckoned with.

Notes:

Many players will not wish to play a dog themselves, but the Border Collie Slayer has a lot of other uses. The Slayer might be turned into a dog by an evil sorcerer, yet keep her Slayer powers (her fellow Scoobies might also become cats and mice, too). The Scoobies could discover the existence of the creature, but part company at the end of the episode (like the Littlest Hobo, the Border Collie Slayer might prefer to wander). Finally, making an NPC Slayer in a group of White Hat PCs a Border Collie ensures that they're even less likely to steal the show, and will also give your series a completely different feel.

Sources of inspiration for stories include Lassie films and the TV show (of course), Rin Tin Tin, The Littlest Hobo, the legendary Benji, Austria's Inspector Rex and a whole host of Disney films and children's stories about canine companions. Comics have given us Krypto and Ace the Bathound, to name but two. There are few stories of supernatural domesticated animals (as opposed to wild), either good or evil, but Conan Doyle's Hound of the Baskervilles is enduringly popular, and Dracula in some sources has wolfhounds or wolves at his disposal. Finally, the film Oh Heavenly Dog depicts a mystery-solving dog possessed by the spirit of Chevy Chase, of all things.

Thanks to the good people of RPGNet for helping me workshop this idea, and the genius David Goodner for inspiring it in the first place. And thanks especially to our dogs, for always standing beside us as we fight our own demons and darkness.